Ask the author

Well lovelies, this where I post and answer some of the questions that get submitted to me (you can submit yours on my contact page).
You can also visit my Instagram for daily updates about what I’m writing, insights to my daily life and of course lots of pictures of my veggie garden! @j.d_evergreen
Before you ask a question please scroll down to check that I haven’t already answered it!

What tips would you give aspiring authors? -JoanneSome tips I would give to an aspiring author are:
– Learn everything you can: don’t assume you know it. Even if you do, you might not know it well enough. This is in regards to writing, editing, and marketing. I found many things when I first started writing. I found I had to learn about tenses and unnecessary words, how to cut what isn’t essential from your story (sometimes this is painful). Learn marketing strategies from people who have done it before, and I don’t mean just bestsellers learning what didn’t work is just as important as learning what did work.
-Ask questions from a variety of people: ask a variety of people to read your book and then ask for their opinions, take them under advisement and if you agree with them fix your work. Criticism can be hard to take, but constructive criticism should always be seen for what it is. A learning opportunity.
-Have an army of beta readers: they will always notice something you missed.
-Read other peoples books: think of books as a learning experience. Take note of how they write, what you liked and pay attention to what keeps you reading. Then use that knowledge in your own work. -If its what you love do it: if you have the drive to write, if it comes out of you at random times, if it keeps you awake, if you feel it in your very soul that that is what you are supposed to do, then do it. It’s a hard path, and I have spent many hours, 12+ hours a day working without pay. To be able to pull through all the difficulties, and it will be difficult, you have to want it more than anything else.

I loved your book, will there be more? Will the next one be about Taliah and her friends? -Mark

Thanks Mark! It means so much to me that you like my book. Will there be more? The short answer is yes. Now for the long answer.
There is potential for Celestia to become a series and I have played with the idea of rebelling sectors but that is in the very early stages. At the moment I am working on a book called Shadowsoul (you can get sneak peeks of it here), Shadowsoul isn’t about Taliah and her friends; it cycles around a young woman named Claire.
It takes place in the same world as Celestia (Katera) but many years after the book Celestia and a lot has changed. Claire’s people have been enslaved by an evil tyrant how controls them through dark magic and the twisted minds of his monstrous followers. But there is hope, six magical necklaces that are said to contain the power to defeat this evil tyrant, the only problem is now Claire has to find them.
In this book, there will be loose ties to Celestia, but they are not part of the same series.

Where do you do your writing? –Jamie.

Well, Jamie what a question! Often I write outside in the garden, I find the noise of the wind and birds very relaxing, and I love to watch the birds play in the bird bath. The environment allows for a very productive writing space and often I can spend hours outside writing without realizing how long its been. More than once this has lead to sunburn, now I’m very careful about where I sit before I begin writing!

What was your favorite part of writing Celestia? – Emily

*Answers contain spoilers.*

My favorite part of writing Celestia was definitely creating the scenes where Taliah uses her power. It was like the ultimate creation, the idea flowed from me and onto the page, and I felt like I was there with them in the clearing, and in the city. Experiencing Taliahs power was definitely my favorite part of writing Celestia.

As a side note, the scene where she is recovering from the first use of her power, that scene where she eats fruit toast gets me every time. From the moment I wrote it, and every edit after caused me to have a deep craving for fruit toast.

Creator of worlds, adventures, magic, and lives, (AKA author but it sounds less impressive now doesn't it ;) )
Advocate for and of sustainable living, tea addict, prone to random outbursts of song, may build something out of random items and leave it for people to find, and occasionally educates small humans for money (AKA Teacher).